Blog update from my travels north. Nothing really happened since my last update and when we left to go to the northern part of Mozambique. We just had to get everything packed and the house ready for our departure. The locations that we planned to go to were the towns of Cuamba and Lichinga (la-shing-ga). We planned to do leadership training in churches that were in that area and then head back home. Our biggest drive was going to happen on the first day. We had smooth roads, and lots of pothole roads. We also crossed the Zambezi river, which is the river where the famous missionary, David Livingston did his work in Africa. Our first leg of the journey took us to the town of Gurue (Gah-roo-eh), which is where Dionisio spent most of his growing up years. He also tagged along for the ride. Our sleeping quarters were like a dormitory that housed guests coming in and out of the town. It was rather nice and the rooms were like little hotel rooms. The setting of Gurue is absolutely beautiful. It’s set in the middle of some mountains and it reminded me of a version of an African Gatlinburg, but a little less crowded and a lot more African like, but it had the same type of setting. The biggest cash crop in the area was tea, and there were tea plantations after tea plantations after tea plantations. After getting up, we then left for the town of Cuamba, which was just a few hours up the road. After arriving in Cuamba, we met up with a regional evangelists, who would travel from church to church overseeing their growth. His name was Rasario, and he traveled with us for the rest of the trip as well. Once we picked him up, we had to head out of town to the bush, which is where we were going to camp out for the night. We went to a place where there were no roads and only foot paths and no sign of any city lights. We arrived to a little village and set up camp next to the church that we were going to train the next day. We had two tents. Jacob and Jaynie in one and Dionisio and I in an another. Rasario was staying with a family that attended the church. That night they fed us supper. The idea of how things were made and how clean it was had to be put out of your mind. We were fed nshima (shee-mah) and chicken. Nshima is made of cornmeal and water. We would use the nshima and ball it up and take a little piece of chicken and eat them both together. We were also offered water, but we all knew a little better than that, so we brought our own water to drink when we got back to our tents. The food was interesting, but you have to have the stomach for the nshima texture, it’s very gooey and sticks to your mouth and stomach. Can’t say I’ll develop a craving for it, but I’ll eat what has been fixed for me. We had to be extra cautious about Mosquitos in the bush. With the signs of Malaria showing up 10 days to 2 weeks later, we knew we’d be home, but still the precaution as we all know was needed. Staying with Dionisio was interesting. I know some Portuguese, but only a few words, so we could have a basic communication base as well as use hand signals to communicate. The next day was a warm day and people of the area that were leaders as well as people who went to that church were there. Now keep in mind that all the building structure, including the church, is all made of cob and thatched roofing. The training session went on for a few hours. During the session we used basic material such as the authority in the Bible, the body of Christ, etc…It was all very basic stuff. We also had lunch there and we also had nshima and chicken. That diet wasn’t going to really change much if we had any meals with nationals. We then headed back to Cuamba for the next couple of nights and stayed at a guest house where an American missionary lived and she provided us with a hot shower both nights we were there and some good food. By the time we came back to Cuamba, it was Saturday evening. We were going to have church the next day at a church that Rasario works with. The church was a little bigger than the one in the bush, but still made of the same stuff. Dionisio gave the sermon and I gave the offering meditation. That has been the hardest thing I’ve done since I’ve been here. How do you ask people who have nothing to find it in their hearts to give what they feel they want to give, even if they have hardly anything. It was difficult, but people will be people and give as they want. We then went back to Rasario’s house for lunch, and you guessed it, nshima and chicken. After we ate lunch, we went back to the guest house for the usual Sunday afternoon relaxation time. Once Monday came around, we packed our bags and headed for Lichinga. We arrived there early evening and we headed to the ministers house of the church that we were going to speak with the next day. We met with him and made plans for the time we were going to go to the church and teach. We dropped Dionisio and Rasario off and we left to stay with an American missionary couple, Steve and Julie, one from Oklahoma and the other from Texas. Needless to say I was rather elated. We had some good southern hospitality. Their house was on the outskirts of Lichinga and they lived behind a few cob huts and their front porch faced a mountain range off in the distance. It was beautiful. The only thing that wasn’t normal in the home was that they had no hot water, and so what we did was heat water on the stove for any hot water we needed, as well as for bucket bathes. The climate was like a very cool fall climate like what we experience in the states. I was running around in sleeveless and shorts and everyone else was freezing in coats and long johns. Everyone said I was a freak, but I have no idea what they are talking about. The next day we went to the church and came to find out that there was to be no teaching because the president of Mozambique was in Lichinga. The town was bustling, but many people didn’t even know he was there. So we went back to the house to see what we could do to help around. We had a few thing to do, one of which was build bars that would go in the frames of the windows to avoid thieves. Steve didn’t have a welder to manufacture a metal frame, so we took it into town. While getting it worked on, sure enough the president of Mozambique and his entire motorcade passed us while we were outside the welding workshop. It was pretty awesome, many people didn’t even know that it was him that was passing them. They were just going about their business. It amazed me with comparing the security in Mozambique and to the states if the president passed. Here it was very relaxed, they did have some soldiers and police, but it seemed low key to what it would be like in the states. The next day we went to the church to do some teaching. By this point, sitting in the sessions got to be like sitting in long seminar classes at school. It got difficult because of the language barrier. Jaynie was there to translate most of it, but it got old and worn out with all the translating. I was asked to speak some and I gave a personal testimony. It’s advised to do that, because it just reiterates the fact that what we say when it comes to life situations are real and gives illustrations for the people. After our teaching we had lunch, and you guessed it, nshima and BEANS, something different. After the teaching, the opportunity finally provided itself for me to experience some driving. I have done some just maneuvering the vehicle around the farm, but no street driving. Driving with the wheel on the right and the car on the left side of the road was interesting, but I got used to it quick. We got back and had some last visiting with Steve and Julie. One thing that Steve said that was hilarious was “When you live in Africa, one thing to keep in mind is, you know the saying, “time flies when you’re having fun”, well look at it as “times fun when you’re having flies” That is so true, and you all who have been to Africa understand that. The next morning, being Thursday at this point, we leave back for Chimoio. Before we leave, we hear about some heat in the two political parties, some involving some shootings amongst the military and some civilians were also shot. We prayed for safety that we wouldn’t get involved with anything. We arrive in Cuamba and dropped of Rasario and then head to Gurue. So far our travels are safe and sound and we heard that the military exchanges were moving south west of where we were. The next morning we find out that the military was preparing for an exchange to take place in Gurue, needless to say we got out of Dodge at a good time. The military at this point was not accounted for as to where their location was and we were praying that we wouldn’t get held up. Thankfully we never did. If we have to evacuate, the Zimbabwe border is within an hour, also the embassy has been keeping us up to date on things. Prayers of safety here in Mozambique.
Posted on: Sat, 22 Jun 2013 10:40:05 +0000
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